


Flight Plans for Realists

by misura



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24963835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: Up until the moment his boyfriend told him that he was making a personal contribution to turning the galaxy into a far more dangerous place, Bodhi Rook thought his life had been going pretty well.
Relationships: Galen Erso/Bodhi Rook
Comments: 13
Kudos: 15
Collections: Rare Male Slash Exchange 2020





	Flight Plans for Realists

**Author's Note:**

  * For [doublejoint](https://archiveofourown.org/users/doublejoint/gifts).



Up until the moment his boyfriend told him that he was making a personal contribution to turning the galaxy into a far more dangerous place, Bodhi Rook thought his life had been going quite well.

"Come again?" he said, mostly in the vain hope that Galen would explain that actually, Bodhi had only been transporting uniforms, or food, or oh, food dispensers.

"We call it project Stardust," Galen said.

"That sounds ... nice?" Bodhi allowed himself to relax a little.

Galen looked grim. Bodhi realized that on second thought, 'stardust' suggested there had been a star somewhere and now there wasn't anymore. Perhaps? He'd never heard of stardust mucking up someone's engines or the like, so maybe it was a metaphor.

"It is a weapon. The most powerful weapon ever built by the Empire."

 _You mean: by you._ Bodhi bit his tongue. Plenty of guilt to go around, it seemed. "And er, this weapon - " _that you built_ " - what does it do, exactly?"

"It kills planets," Galen said.

Bodhi had left shortly after - as it turned out, in addition to planets, Galen's weapon also killed the mood pretty good, which meant he had time to think.

Last time he'd had time to think, he'd ended up taking a wrong turn somewhere and running into Galen, who had very kindly explained to a passing and rather suspicious Stormtrooper patrol that he and Bodhi were involved in a secret relationship, and would they please be so kind as to not report Bodhi for having gotten caught in a restricted area?

(To Bodhi's surprise, they had. Or hadn't, rather.)

So, really, the smart thing to do would be to see if maybe there was some cargo nobody else wanted to pick up, take his mind off of the whole planet-killing-weapon business, which had nothing to do with Bodhi.

He hadn't known, after all. He'd only been doing his job.

And even if he wanted to, there was nothing he could do about any of it, anyway, was there?

"Go?" Galen repeated. His hair looked mussed, like he'd been sleeping.

"Yes!" Bodhi said. "Now! Before they - " On second thought, it seemed highly unlikely anyone would know that Bodhi Rook, cargo pilot, had just decided that the Empire would be far better (or worse, rather) off without one Galen Erso, genius. "Now," he repeated.

"I can't," Galen said. "My work - "

 _Your work on building a weapon that kills planets, yes,_ Bodhi thought. It wasn't that he thought less of Galen - he knew Galen well enough by now to realize that Galen lived for his work, to realize that if you gave Galen a technical problem, he wouldn't rest until he'd solved it.

So, really, Galen couldn't be held responsible. Someone had presented him with the problem of the Empire currently not being able to blow up planets. Galen wouldn't have been able to help himself.

Galen might, Bodhi tried hard not to think, perhaps have kept the solution to himself.

"Take it with you," he said, because _Destroy it_ wasn't a realistic suggestion.

"You don't understand," Galen said.

 _We don't have time for this,_ Bodhi thought, even though he realized that wasn't a logical thing to think. Nothing had changed. "Galen," he said. "I do. I do understand. That's why we should go. Before - " _you finish your work_ " - it's finished."

"You don't understand," Galen repeated.

Bodhi swallowed his first response, and then his second one. Fools rushed in, he reminded himself.

"Then, please," he said, "explain it to me. Explain to me why we, you and I, can't leave right now."

All right, so _'I have to stay here so I can sabotage the Empire's planet-killing weapon to make sure the Rebels will be able to blow it up'_ made for a pretty good explanation.

Bodhi decided he felt a bit guilty over not having expected Galen's reason to be anything so sensible.

He also decided that in light of this new information, his idea of running away had been somewhat lacking. Running away wouldn't fix anything. It wouldn't magically make the Empire less powerful or prone to trying to build planet-killing weapons.

Bodhi'd made dozens of flights, and not once had he thought about maybe doing a bit of sabotage of his own, 'lose' a few crates, or the like. True, he probably would have been fired, if not worse, and in the end, he wouldn't actually have accomplished anything. The Empire was huge, and Bodhi was just Bodhi.

It wasn't reasonable to expect him to do anything like Galen. Galen was brilliant.

Bodhi only knew how to fly shuttles. He'd fantasized about being a combat pilot, sure, but deep down inside, he knew perfectly well that he wasn't cut out for that sort of thing, that he wasn't a hero, or even a Rebel. He was just an ordinary guy.

_An ordinary guy who's been helping build a super-weapon for the Empire._

"A message?" Bodhi asked. He felt a bit confused, bordering on disappointed.

"To be delivered in person to Saw Gerrera," Galen said. "It will be dangerous," he added, sounding apologetic. "You may well be spending the rest of your life a fugitive."

"We," Bodhi said. Life as a pair of outlaw fugitives didn't sound so bad. He'd have Galen, and Galen'd have him. As long as Bodhi got them a ship, they'd be able to go anywhere. It was a big Empire, and there would always be work for a cargo pilot.

Maybe not so much for a weapons designer - at least, not for a weapons designer wanting to keep a low profile, but Bodhi figured Galen'd be able to think of something.

Galen hesitated, then nodded. "We. If things go as planned."

"Yes," Bodhi said. He could see it now: Bodhi Rook, a small cog, a nobody - but give him a message, and suddenly he would be Bodhi Rook, who made a difference. Bodhi Rook, who made things right.

Bodhi Rook, who flew off to start a new life somewhere with the man of his dreams.

"Yes," he said again. "Of course. I will deliver your message, Galen. I will."

Galen smiled at him. "I do not doubt it. Thank you."


End file.
